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(Mode1.) I

J. HOFFMAN.

Lead and Crayon Holder.

No. 237,531. Patented Fb. 8-, I881.

Fi .4 M 3 Wifii/wsas 1711671267" N-PETERS, FHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOS EPH HOFFMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH REGKEN- DORFER, OF SAME PLACE.

LEAD AND CRAYON HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION, forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,531, dated February 8, 1881.

Application filed August 28, 1880. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH HOFFMAN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lead and Crayon Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to that kind of lead and crayon holders known as the automatic holder-a holder in which the jaws are by the action of a spring caused to close upon the lead, and are caused to open by pressure exerted by hand against the stress of the spring. I

My invention consists in combining with the longitudinally-movable lead-containing tube or receiver and its inclosing-case or handle jaws attached to and carried by the tube, and provided with side lips or flanges which enter V-shaped or equivalently-formed grooves or slots in the case or handle, whereby the jaws, when moved in one direction, will be caused to close on and grasp the lead, and when moved in the other direction will be permitted to open or release their hold on the lead.

The nature of my invention and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a holder embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the front or nozzle end of the holder enlarged. Fig. 4. is a like view of the front portion of the lead receiver or tube, together with the jaws carried by it.

A is the tubular case or handle, terminating in the usual tapering or contracted nozzle or front end, a. B is the lead tube or receiver, inclosed by and longitudinally movable with respect to the handle. 0 is the external cap, attached to the tube and fitting the rear end of the handle. b is the spring between the cap and the handle, which serves to retract thetube so as to hold the jaws in a normallyolosed position, the tube being pushed forward against the stress of the spring by pressing on the cap 0. The rearward movement of the tube may be limited by the customary device employed for that purpose in my automatic pencil-holder now in the market; or, the jaws constructed and combined with the tube and handle, asI am aboutto describe, will serve that purpose.

The parts thus far described are substantially like those found in the now well-known automatic holder, of which the holder shown in my Letters Patent No. 215,521, dated May 29,1879, (reissued in two divisions, Nos. 8,967 and 8,968, November 18, 1879,) is the type.

In lieu, however, of having jaws which are formed with inclined surfaces acted on by the case or handle to cause them to close together, I now attach to or otherwise form upon the front end of the lead receiver or tube B jaws D, which have no such inclines, but are provided with side lips, flanges, or their equivalent, c, which enter and engage slots 01 in the nozzle a of the case. These slots, as shown, are of V form-that is to say, they are widest at the front, and thence taper or contract rearwardly.

The spring 12 tends to pull back the tube B, and consequently the jaws carried by the tube are also drawn back; but by this movement of the jaws the lips c are brought into the narrowing portions of the slots at, and are consequently drawn together, thus closing'the jaws and causing them to grasp the lead 0, as shown in Fig. 1. When, however, the cap 0 is pressed .forward the jaws will thereby be moved forward,bringiug their lips 0 into the wider portions of the slots at, and thus permitting the jaws to release their hold on the lead. The jaws shown in the drawings are made of spring sheet metal, and normally stand apart; but they may be otherwise made, if desired.

In lieu of slots, the nozzleamayhave grooves, and these grooves, of a wedge-like or tapering form, may indeed be formed in or on any suitable portion of the interior of the front end of the handle.

While I prefer to use two grooves or slots and two pairs of lips or flanges, yet one groove and one pair of lips alone may be employed, in which case the part which grasps the lead may be in the form of an expansible tube split on one side, with lips or flanges on the two edges of the split to engage the tapering groove or slot in the handle.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isj 1. A lead or crayon holder in which the case or handle is combined with longitudinally-movable expansible lead-holding jaws, provided on contiguous edges with laterally-projecting lips which enter and engage one or more wedge-like or tapering slots or their equivalent in the case, substantially as and for the, purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the handle or case provided at its front end with wed ge-like or taperin g slots or their equivalent, as described, with the longitudinally-movable lead-containing tube or receiver, having at its front end grasping-jaws provided with lips or flanges which enter and engage the slotted or equivalentlyformed part of the case or handle, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth. l

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the case or handle, formed at its front with tapering or Wedge-like slots or their equivalent, the longitudinally-movablelead-containingtube, terminatingin grasping-jaws provided with lips or flanges which enterand engage the said slotted or equivalently-formed portion of the case, the pressurecap, and the retracting-spring.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of August, A. D. 1880.

JOSEPH HOFFMAN.

Witnesses C. S. BRAIsTED, JOE W. SWAINE. 

